


Catching the Cat

by CourtneyFG



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 10:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2769197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtneyFG/pseuds/CourtneyFG
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been six months since Carmilla saved you from the devouring light, and you haven’t seen her in cat form since. You’ve tried a couple of time to coax it out of her without outright asking but nothing seems to work so far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catching the Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [Catching the Cat](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3185903) by [CourtneyFG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtneyFG/pseuds/CourtneyFG), [KaterinaJA](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaterinaJA/pseuds/KaterinaJA)



It’s been six months since Carmilla saved you from the devouring light, and you haven’t seen her in cat form since. You’ve tried a couple of time to coax it out of her without outright asking but nothing seems to work so far.

\---

Attempt 1. (1 month)

You start simple and looking back it wasn’t your best idea. You bought a whole raw fish and kept it in the fridge in your room. You hoped that it might trigger some feline hunger urge, but Carmilla merely pulled a face at it when she ventured into the fridge to pour herself some blood. After this you had a thought about trying the same thing with mice in the room, but you decided against it.

\---

Attempt 2. (2 months)

The thought came to you while you were knitting a scarf. You were sitting on your bed knitting and Carmilla was on hers reading, you staged a mini tantrum about dropped stitched and had thrown the knitting across the room at her head. You thought that she might like to play with the wool as a cat. She’d just glared at you as she scolded, ‘Careful there sugarplum, you could have taken an eye out and those things don’t grow back.’ Before she handed back your work, she examined it and with deft movements had fixed the staged disaster. You stared at her a little dumbfounded.

‘I didn’t know you could knit.’ You blurted out.

‘There’s a lot about me you don’t know’ she’d quipped before she returned to reading her book.

\---

Attempt 3. (4 months)

This is the plan you had the most confidence in. You’d called your dad and asked him to send you a care package because you were feeling homesick and specifically asked him to pack the giant stuffed teddy he’d bought you as a consolation prize for not letting you go to the carnival when you were 12. When the parcel arrived the first thing you did was throw the bear in the dumpster behind Crowley Hall, you’d never been particularly attached to it, you just needed him to send something big in order to get a large box. You were in the middle of putting way the assortment of other supplies your father had sent when Carmilla had entered the room. She didn’t pay you or the box any attention, just flopped down on her bed and pulled a book out of her bag to read. The last item in the box took you by surprise, it was small box, not much bigger than a novel, and taped to the top was a letter from your dad.

_Dear Sweetheart,_

_I know you are feeling homesick and it’s hard for me as well being so far way from you. I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands recently so I decided to clear out some of stuff in the attic. That’s when I came across a box of your mother’s old college things and in it was her college shirt. I know she would want you to have it and I hope that it helps you feel a little closer to her. I know we don’t talk about her much but she would be proud of the young woman you’ve become; I certainly know that I am. I love you Laura._

_Dad._

You don’t recall exactly when you started to cry but your hands trembled as you opened the box and pulled out your mother’s old heather grey t-shirt. You’d let out a soft sob, which is when Carmilla looked over at you. Without speaking a word she crossed the room to hold you. Sitting on your bed you nuzzled into her as she patted your back and peppered your head with soft kisses. You held the shirt close to your chest but you gave Carmilla the letter to read. She just held you closer and you both fell asleep cuddled together.

When you woke up the dorm room was clean, the box was gone and there was a steaming mug of cocoa on your headboard and even though you didn’t get to catch Carmilla playing in the box as a cat, you don’t try that approach again.

 ---

Attempt 4. (6 months, Present day)

You’ve acquired a laser pointer from the local pet shop and you know this isn’t going to be as subtle as your prior attempts but you are getting desperate. When you enter the room Carmilla is sitting on her bed tapping away at a laptop and it always strikes you as odd seeing her use modern technology because it makes her seem so anachronistic.

You see the look of concentration on her face and you almost feel bad for what your about to do.  You shine the little red dot on her knee and it takes her a moment to notice it but when she does she just death stares it and you turn it off. After a minute or two you point it at her shoulder, she glances at it turn back to her work and growls at you, ‘Unless the laser is attached to the sight of a sniper rifle I will crush it in my bare hands if I see it again.’

You feel ashamed of your actions and a little deflated so you shove it into your bag.

‘Look cupcake, I know what your trying to do, your not as subtle as you might like to believe. I know the fish and the knitting were apart of a trap to catch me in my cat form, I’m also pretty sure the giant box from your dad was a part of it too, but It’s not going to work.’ she informs you without looking up from her laptop.

‘I just wanted to see you as a cat again, can you do that for me?’ you ask hopefully.

‘It’s not something I can do at will sweetheart,’ she offers with an apologetic smile, ‘It’s strongly linked to my primal defences. When I am in danger or someone I care about is in mortal peril then, poof,’ she emphasises with a flourish of her hands, ‘cat!’

‘Oh.’ You try not so sound to disappointed, you were after all looking forward to curling up next to a giant cat for a nap sometime, or even coaxing a purr out of her but she seems to pick up on how dejected you are.

‘Not many people have ever witnessed me as a cat, you’re one of the lucky few. I’ll never forget when William witnessed my transformation. It was during the 60’s and I was on the roof of the astronomy tower, smoking pot and gazing at the stars. He’d always resented the fact that I was mother’s favourite and he always felt the need to try and fight for dominance, ever the child. With my diminished senses he was able to sneak up on me. I took momentary fright and lost my footing as I got up to face him, I slipped and fell from the roof. It happened mid fall, I tried to fight it, I didn’t want willy boy to see me like that but no such luck, I landed on all fours and hissed up at him, he only laughed at me, so I skulled away. That was when he started to call me “Kitty”, he never let me live it down.’ She releases a sigh and looks over at you; she notices your concerned expression. ‘I do have control over it when I’m dreaming though.’ She offers, ‘Cat dreams are kind of exciting, they are the only times I really get to explore what it’s like to be a cat. Besides dream walking as a cat is fun.’

‘Dream walking? You mean like entering other people’s dreams?’ You’ve heard the term before but never really took the time to understand it.

‘That is the general idea.’ She seems to be enjoying this and you realise that she’s probably never had the opportunity to talk to anyone about this kind of stuff. ‘I mostly do a lot of prowling around the edges of dreams, protecting people from dark forces and bad dreams, not interfering, just watching.’ You cock an eyebrow at her, ‘not like that, remember when LaF was missing and you said that you kept dreaming about a big cat thing sleeping on the floor, well Perry was right, that was me, I was, standing guard so to speak.’

You sit on your bed absorbing this new information when a thought pops into your head, ‘But you can enter dreams though right?’ you ask.

‘It’s a very intimate boundary to cross but yes, in cat form, I can dream walk into someone else’s dream.’

‘So, say I was dreaming about having a picnic on a sunny afternoon, you would be able to join me, as a cat?’ you ask trying to hide the excitement you are feeling.

‘Theoretically, yes but how often do you have control over what you dream? Do you really want to hang out with me in cat form that much?’ Carmilla seems both shocked and amused at the same time.

‘Well I could practice controlling my dreams, I’m sure it’s something that can be done. And yeah, I do, My dad wouldn’t let me have any pets and I like the idea of bonding with something soft and fluffy and I can’t exactly keep a pet in the dorm room.’ You offer her a shy smile.

‘Look cupcake, I’m not promising anything but I can prowl for awhile and If I think it’s a good time I’ll enter, at least until you get the hang of controlling your dreams. Just one rule, and this is a deal breaker if it happens, no more laser pointers.’ She appears quit adamant on this point but since she’s agreed to give it a go, you can’t exactly refuse her demand. 

“Deal! We don’t have to do it tonight, just whenever you feel comfortable, just don’t make me wait too long.’

She crosses the room and lies down on your bed next to you resting her head in your lap. ‘I know it’s not the same,’ she whispers as she looks up at you, ‘but even in human form I still appreciate a good scratch behind the ears.’ And you can’t help but oblige her.


End file.
